Madrid and L'Escala

Well well well, I'm sure you've all been eagerly awaiting this next blog which is yet again slightly late. It's also probably going to be quite long as there's a fair few things to cram but I'll try to be as succinct as possible! Still loving life though so busyness is a good thing! I have a mere 5 weeks left in school which I'm really finding hard to comprehend as I really don't want this year to end. Honestly though, I'm really looking forward to coming back to the UK as I have literally only spent about 5 days there this year and quite frankly, I miss it and all its glorious Britishisms. However, not coming back here afterwards is going to be a real bummer. Either way, I have 2 months of Montpellier to look forward to this summer- more on that in a moment.

So, as it's been a while since me and my university friends have seen each other, we decided that it would be a good idea to reconvene in the countries capital, Madrid! The trip didn't quite get off to a smooth start as me and Emily only just made the flight with about 5 minutes to spare- I nearly had a heart attack. Once there, however, it was just as much of an effort trying to find the hostel and it's various buildings located all over Plaza Espana. However, we were settled in and off we went for some TGI Fridays as a reward for all our hardship over the day. 

The next day, the amigas arrived!! It was super to see them all again and laugh and exchange our funny year abroad happenings as we're all scattered all over Spain doing various things. We did loads of touristy things like the walk down the Gran Via (the main drag through Madrid), visit the Royal Palace, some museums, and the lush park with all it's fountains and whatnot. The weather was absolutely gorgeous so plenty of ice creams were eaten and sangria consumed to solve all our heat issues. I can't say we ate many cultural dishes as we all do that at our respective towns/cities anyway. We treated ourselves to English breakfasts everyday and some good hearty burgers and chips. Our hostel was...ok...I mean it was quite small and full of some weird people and spread all over the place but on the whole it served us well for a great weekend! However, Madrid is lovely but Barcelona beats it 10 times over for just being awesome.

After a fun filled weekend in Madrid it was back to reality for a week. Fortunately the sun really shone that week, it was like 27 degrees for a few days and it really felt like summer. So, spontaneously, I booked a mini weekend away to a place called Sitges. You may remember this place as I have already had one failed attempt at going there. However, the weekend I booked this for is forecast to rain all weekend so we shall see what happens there!

Anyway, back to stuff I did. I was fortunate enough to be invited away with a family from the school. Don't worry, this isn't just a random family that told me to get in their car, I already knew the mum as we do a Spanish exchange once a week and I teach some of the kids English at school. the family are all such lovely people; mum, dad, one boy and three girls. They took me to the grandparents' second home/beach house in a place called L'Escala on the Costa Brava. Needless to say it was beautiful- the views and the town. I really felt like part of the family and they wouldn't let me pay for anything (except a round of ice creams), but to be honest it was great being  taken care of for a few days. This sounds slightly weird but it was like going away for the weekend with my family but about 7 years ago- very bizarre but it was so lovely. I met some of their friends there including the crazy Dutch guy who owns the bar and is obsessed with London, the kids next door who have some boundary issues and the rich guy who has just bought a  castle and a horse to go with it. Incidentally, we visited the castle to have a nosey and oh my god it's fabulous! It really is a castle! Perched on a hill looking out to see, my guess is to spot invaders (probably the English) making the view from the terrace on top spectacular! 

Following this slightly exhausting, child filled weekend, I had to work 5 DAYS this week. This was due to missing a day to head to Madrid and then making up for it so that I still do all my hours. In the next few weeks there are some days off where I can have some more fun and games whilst I still have time here!!

Speak to you again soon chaps.

The Easter Oleedays!!

Well, what a busy few weeks it's been. Literally hectic.....but absolutely FABULOUS!!

First of all, when I last posted, I was a mere 20 years old. Now, however, I've turned the grand old age of 21....officially adult age now. And, to help me celebrate this 'joyous' occasion, the family came out to Barcelona for the weekend. The day of my birthday, I had a wee party at my school with the year 6 class, I felt very embarrassed but very happy as they brought cake! It was also my mentor's (the other English teacher) birthday on the same day so it was sort of a joint party and really lovely. 

Then, the family arrived. That's not meant to sound as gloomy as it does. It was brilliant (albeit a little odd) to have them here and to show them around Vic, and I think they liked it. I even gave them a super awesome tour (with super awesome facts) of the city and all it's contents. After having Tapas for lunch (something they had A LOT of that weekend) and fuelling up on cups of tea for the ride back down to Barcelona we parted ways so that I could celebrate with my amigos! We had a lovely meal in a restaurant and then went on to celebrate the way 20 something year olds are supposed to, I won't bore you with the details on that. I'm very lucky to have such great friends and it truly was a great night!



The next day I headed down to meet the tourists. I was feeling a little tired and quite hungover but I wasn't going to let that stop me! We did all the touristy things; Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Montjuic, Olympic Stadium, the beach, the cable car, the food market and basically the whole city. I included more super awesome fun facts whilst we ambled round the best city on the planet! We ate some amazing food (mainly Tapas) and I loved every moment with them all in the big city. I want to thank them for making my 21st a super special time and a birthday remember- love you guys!

Ok so that takes us up to the end of term. I was lucky enough to tag along on a little school trip to a local newspaper company which was really interesting; there's more than just newspaper stuff actually- there was a TV set, radio studios and lots of people running around with bits of paper. It was a super day and it really tested my Catalan, I reckon I understood about 90% of the information which isn't too bad. Although, I have to continue playing dumb to the kids telling them that I didn't understand any of it. This prompted one of the kids to say to me: 'so, you've been here for six months and all you can say is 'hola', that's ridiculous!' It's a little frustrating but it's not the end of the world!
On the last day, we went on the annual bike ride with the school, all 380 of them. Fortunately it was mainly farm tracks and back lanes so there wasn't too many disgruntled old men that couldn't get to their bowls tournament. I'll tell you who did suffer though, my bottom! I was not wearing the appropriate attire for a 17km bike ride and it's safe to say that I suffered a wee bit. Hey-ho, it was great last morning and a good exercise session!

So, the day after was the start of mine and miss Emily's big adventure in Andorra and Toulouse. We set off from Barcelona Sants on the Saturday morning on the coach, not really knowing what to expect in Andorra although we were kind of hoping that we would have to cross a border or something to let us know when we had arrived in the tax-haven. We were not disappointed as we were stopped for some time whilst we had our passports and the bus checked- it was thrilling!

Caldea (the spa)- aka heaven in swimming pool form

Anyway, so we had arrived it what can only be described as a mixture of France, Spain and Catalonia where they speak and mixture of French, Spanish and Catalan. Needless to say our heads were exploding! However, we were on the 'Spanish' side so we got by just fine. We were staying in a little hotel in Escalders which is joined with Andorra la Vella (the 'capital' city) so we were in a great location to explore. We spent our days wandering the tax free shops (which consist mainly of cigarettes and alcohol), going to museums, eating and soaking up the 'Andorrasian' culture. The highlight of the trip was most definitely going to Caldea- Europe's largest spa. We went at 9.30 at night and the best bit about this place is the outdoor section. There was a Jacuzzi and rapids where you could glare up at the stars and the snowy mountains which was connected to the indoor bit by canals that you swan through. It was like swimming pool heaven for me, and although I fell in the pool and subsequently got told off for climbing in the wrong way, it was a fantastic experience!

French and Spanish post boxes side by side

The next day we set off for Toulouse through the mountains of Andorra where there was at least 6 feet of snow, fortunately the roads were clear so we could just admire the beautiful scenery as we headed to the land of wine and frogs legs!
What can I say about Toulouse? Well, it's very French and it's full of French people. Our hostel was in an 'interesting' area of the city so we didn't hang around there too much. We did the standard French touristy things including all the cathedrals, monuments and museums, including the natural history museum which was super! We even went on the awesome but rather chilly Tourist Land Train.

The main square in Toulouse

Surprisingly, the museums were not too expensive but anything else was quite pricey, especially food and alcohol in bars. However, being students we were able to live quite happily and made the most of the city.

So came the end of our road trip, back in time for Easter and ready indulge in a ridiculous amounts of chocolate- courtesy of Emily's family! We had a great few days back in Spain where we made the most of the beautiful weather on the beach- still a little too chilly to swim in the sea mind. 
We also ventured up to Tibidabo- the big monastery on the giant hill in Barcelona. Not much to say about this other than it's beautiful but extremely high at the very top- a mere 500 metres above sea level. The views were incredible though and definitely worth doing.

The view from Tibidabo

Well, that's that. I hope I didn't bore you all to death with all of this useless information, but that's what I've been up to for the past few weeks. I only have 2 short months left here and I am definitely not wanting to go back to the UK any time soon, I can't believe this time of year has come round already! This means I have to make the most of what time  have left and I am most definitely going to do that- I assure you!

P.s. Just an FYI- my English phone is no longer working. 

Here comes the sun.

Ok, apologies are due once again as it's been a while since my last blog. A month in fact, even though I vowed to be more punctual with it. Either way, I'll fill you all in on what I've been up to. 

After being back in Barcelona for 6 weeks, I decided to treat myself with a little trip home. The initial plan was for it to be a surprise for my Mum and family but being a rubbish secret keeper and over compensating for my whereabouts all the time, she managed to work it out as her Mum-radar was in full swing during the week leading up to this. I had a really lovely time at home with the family and friends that I saw, it was a super break and just what I needed. 

Being home made me realise how much I love life in Spain and it makes me sad to think that I have just under 3 months left here. I'm glad I feel this way as I was worried that after Christmas, the rest of the time would drag. It seems that the exact opposite is happening, time is going too fast and I'm trying to make the most of it whilst I still can. There are lots of fun and games planned for the next month or so, so watch this space!

A friend who is studying in Valencia came up to beautiful Barcelona a couple of weeks ago and being the Barcelona fanatics that we are, Emily and I took Billie around the whole city in 2 fun-filled days, dishing out all the fun facts that we could think of! We stayed in the normal hostel right on Placa Catalunya The activities undertaken have already been mentioned in this blog somewhere so I won't bore you with more of that. However, I have been venturing to some different cultural sights of Barcelona. For example, I went to the MNAC; The National Art Museum of Catalonia, for free. I'm glad I went for free because it turns out that art isn't that interesting...especially on 2 hours sleep and when you're still a little bit drunk. Having said that, I still enjoyed the visit as the building was really impressive.

Winning at skiing.

Without doubt, the most exciting excursion I've recently been on was our adventure up to the mountains to go SKIING!! As I have a friend who lives in the village where the ski tram goes from it was a no brainer that I should go up and have a go at skiing. It was a great weekend, and I had the most fun. We decided against a lesson (a risky move) but it turns out we didn't need one. Jade and I were pro's (well sort of). We only fell over on the ski lift thing and there were no broken bones or injuries. In all seriousness, I love skiing and I can't wait to go again some day as it was so much fun. 

Me, loving life in the sun.

Here in Spain, the weather is finally warming up and the big winter coat has been hidden away for another year, thank goodness. I'm so glad the warmth has arrived as I was getting a bit fed up of winter. 

This weekend, the Bann fam are coming out to see me to help me celebrate me turning into an adult and I'm really looking forward to seeing them and showing round my life here. It'll be a while until I write again as I won't be at home for a week or in a weeks time....more on that another day. 

Carnaval

Now that the weather is brightening up it's starting to feel more like a holiday once again. Having said that, there have been a few weather related hiccups recently but it's no biggy. And, as usual, I've been making the most of this weather and venturing out to...(surprise surprise) Barcelona! 

There were plans to go to Sitges, which is a lovely little seaside town south of Barcelona. However, due to 120kmph winds, there was a problem with the trains and so that was a big fat no go. We replaced this with a trip to Mcdonalds and the cinema. Not a bad replacement after all. 

The last trip to Barcelona was probably the most jam packed day in Barcelona I've had to date, and it was spent in 'fabulous' company. Emily and I took Pierre (our year abroad bear who is slowly making his way around Europe) around some of the sights of the greatest city on Earth. We took the cable car up to Montjuic where we went around the Olympic Stadium. The views from the cable car were spectacular although it's definitely not for the faint hearted as the cars are fairly small and rickety. We then ventured down through Placa Espanya and to the metro to head over to the other side of the city. We were briefly separated in a moment of panic, but we all saw the funny side, including the delightful onlookers on the metro, some of whom thought it was hilarious. 
Anyway, once reunited we headed over to Parc Guell which is another of Antoní Gaudí's wonderful creations. It's was so warm up there, but that may have been because of the million steps that you have to climb to get up there! Nonetheless, it was certainly worth it and Pierre thought it was great. The day ended on a romantic stroll down the beach followed by some lovely cocktails in the sunset before heading back to Vic for another week of school.

This week at school has been rather...different. This is because we were celebrating Carnival (Carnaval). I'm not entirely sure what this is or why exactly but I'll give explaining it a go. Basically it's our equivalent to Pancake day(!) whereby it's the last days of craziness and partying before 6/7 weeks of being well behaved before Easter comes. This means that for 1 week, Carnestoltes (the weird carnival king) gives out themes and instructions for the children to do each day. For example, on Tuesday we had to wear sport clothes, on Wednesday we had to prepare a ball (I'm not sure why but all the kids brought in balls), on Thursday we had to bring in or make a medal (mine said 'Best English Speaker') and on Friday it was fancy dress (I was a cowboy). It was a week of fun at school but it did just seem like the Spanish were looking for an excuse to party. 

Speaking of which, although this takes place in schools, in the evenings there are activities and parades for the adults and the kids. The biggest Carnaval celebration near to where I live is in Torelló, about 15 minutes away. This place normally has a population of about 13,000 but over this weekend, it reached about 100,000. On Friday night, there was a great big party in the town. This consisted of a vehicle pulling a giant DJ set around and blasting out music. We very appropriately nicknamed this 'The Party Bus'. The theme for this night was Senyoretes i Homenots  where the boys and men dress as girls and the girls and women dress as boys. It was a fantastic night of partying in the streets with all the crazy Catalans. The next night was just a simple fancy dress and parade. Now we didn't dress up but we did paint our faces with Union Jacks, which caused more confusion than expected as people didn't seem to know what country it represented. (HELLO...OLYMPICS/GOLDEN JUBILEE!) Anyway, we went along, not really knowing what to expect. What greeted us were huge and elaborate floats made by the locals, each blasting out more music and therefore being followed by thousands of dressed up crazy people. The atmosphere was electric and the floats were amazing, and quite frankly, crazy. We're not too sure where they came from or what the reasoning is behind the floats but it was great nonetheless! 

It's been one CRAZY week. 

Barcelona and Puigsacalm

It's been relatively busy out here in Spain over the past few weeks with one thing or another. I'll try and cram them all into this without boring you to death. 

Every weekend I seem to go to Barcelona. This is far from a chore and seen as it's only an hour and half away, why not?! The Barcelona Bucket List is slowly but surely being ticked off and it's great fun doing so. Although the trips to Barcelona are mainly cultural and touristy, I do manage to squeeze in the odd Starbucks and fastfood indulgence from time to time as a reward for living in the least touristy place on earth. Along with wondering down La Rambla and super walks along the beach watching the crazy surfers out in January!

Recently I have visited Sagrada Familia which is the big Cathedral designed by Antoní Gaudi. It's immensely impressive on the outside but slightly disappointing on the inside, and certainly not worth the 11 euros I paid to get in. It is arguably the symbol of Barcelona and it's clear to see why. However, it is yet to be completed and so adding to the wonder that is Sagrada Familia. My Grandad Harry had a theory that every night all the work that had been done in the day would be removed so that it would never be finished and continue to be this extravagant tourist attraction. Who knows?
I have also been to another of Gaudí's famous bulidings; Casa Batlló. This is basically a house built on the Passeig de Gracia running through the centre of Barcelona that is a bit wacky. (Gaudí was a bit wacky). It's a fully functioning, practical house but with weird and wonderful 'stuff' in it, all designed and overseen by Gaudí. It was really interesting to visit but I don't think I'd like to live there, I'm happy with my little flat. 

The last leg to the top.

On Sunday, the gym I go to had organised a little excursion- a walk to Puigsacalm. This should have really been labelled as a climb as it is, according to wikipedia, 'the highest mountain in the Catalan Transversal Range...and has an altitude of 1512 metres.' Now, although I didn't start the walk...I mean climb from sea level, it bloody well felt like it. It was extremely steep and it definitely nearly killed me. Ok that's an exaggeration but it was pretty difficult and my legs were aching like mad afterwards. Having said all this, it was a grand day out in great company (mainly old ladies who were out climbing us- to be fair they had sticks) and the views from the top were spectacular. It was lovely to get some proper fresh air and see another part of this fab country. 

Thankful to be alive

Other activities that have been undertaken over the past few weeks include seeing Les Misérables twice (it's immense, and if you haven't already seen it then do!), being subjected to a questionable English production of the Ugly Duckling and Pinocchio at school and indulging in some gorgeous strawberries and cream IN WINTER!



Well that's all for now folks but I'm sure I'll have some more Barcelona stories to fill you in on soon. Ciao for now!!

P.s. Hi Fran.

Back to Spain we go...

Ok, it's been far too long since I've updated this blog. I do apologise for this but I can assure you that I'll be more disciplined this year.

Let's start at the end of last year, before Christmas. The last few weeks before we broke up for the holidays were mainly geared towards Christmas and Els Pastorets. This is the Catalan equivalent of the Nativity play that young kids put on around Christmas time but the story is centred around the Shepherds (els pastorets) and the journey they make to see the birth of baby Jesus. The three Kings, Mary, Joseph, the Angel Gabriel etc feature very little in the production and so I wasn't really following the story until it was explained to me afterwards! This is mainly because there are about 400 kids at my school which made the show a complete shambles, and that, along with the fact that only half the microphones worked meant that it was about 2 hours of me thinking 'what the hell is going on?!' Having said that, it was great to see another Catalan tradition and I felt like a proud honorary teacher watching all the students perform. 

By the time the 21st December came around, I was super excited to venture back to the UK Christmas. I was met at the airport by the family and was extremely happy to back on home soil. Needless to say, it was a very special 2 weeks at home seeing the family and friends and going to London to see in the New Year made it even better! I also got see the newest addition to the family- little baby Willow (who is actually a dog). I love her to pieces but I just hope she remembers me when I'm home next, whenever that may be. 

So, on coming back to Spain, I decided to drag my Dad and brothers out here to see what goes on and where I live. They were staying in the hotel opposite my flat which was very handy and they spent 3 days and nights here and we barely stopped. We visited Barcelona and Girona, seeing as much as possible in the little time we had. I also showed them around lovely little Vic and took them to some of my favourite places. We were lucky enough to be invited to my lovely mentor's house for dinner on Saturday before the Three Kings parade through the city. I should mention at this point that some families go with the tradition that the Three Kings bring the presents on the night of the 5th January as opposed to Santa Claus on 25th December. Anyway, after indulging in some traditional Catalan foods with my family and Maria's, we set off for the city centre and needless to say, it was booming. I had no idea that there was so many people in Vic. The atmosphere was super and I can imagine that being 5 years old and seeing the Three Kings parade through the town is exceedingly exciting!

The boys all left on 6th January and so that meant it was back to normal for me here in Vic. I'm really happy to be back and to see all my Spanish, English and French friends again along with all the little monkeys at school. I've already tried my hand at some new Catalan foods with my French friend Aurelie and her brand new baby boy, Yann, and their friends. I was invited out for lunch with them and by lunch I mean about 4 hours of food in a restaurant whilst nursing a hangover. However, I had the most fun! We ate calcots which are a vegetable (somewhere between a leek and an onion) cooked on a fire. You then pinch one end and pull the other to take out the juicy vegetable from inside, all the while wearing a bib and gloves (it gets very messy). This is all served on a roof tile, I don't know maybe the restaurant couldn't afford plates. This was all an experience in itself which made for a great day out with some new friends. 

I'm looking forward to some new adventures out here over the next 6 months, I've even written a 'Barcelona Bucket List' (don't worry I'm not dying) but it's all the stuff I want to do before I leave Spain in June, so watch this space. So, I hope the New Year is treating all of you well and I promise to update you all more often from now on....I hope.

The most wonderful time of the year!

It's been a fair few weeks since I last updated my life in blog world. This isn't because I've been too busy, more because nothing amazingly spectacular has happened. I think the 'honeymoon period' of my year abroad has well and truly ended in that life here is just normal and I go about my daily doings quite happily. However, I don't see this as a bad thing, far from it in fact, but it does mean I have well and truly settled into my life out here in Vic.

This is the market as seen from Jade's balcony

Having said that, these last few weeks have been a delight as ever. The highlight of which has to be the annual Medieval Market that comes to Vic each year, bringing THOUSANDS of people from all over Spain with it. I definitely think this is the best market I have ever been to, and I live a minute away from it! The food was to die for (I didn't cook for 3 days!) and the atmosphere was super and very cultural. Therefore, all my indulgences in food and mulled wine counts as being culturally educated as part of my year abroad. This market took over the city for 4 days and, although going anywhere was a bit of a pain, it was a great to see everyone walking around in medieval attire and hearing some traditional Catalan music. We also caught a mini show-thing one night which was...umm...interesting but entertaining nonetheless. I would like to mention that the highlight of this market was the vessel in which the mulled wine was sold...a horn, which made the wine drinking an experience in itself!

Being only an hour and a half from the beautiful city of Barcelona, I've visited a couple of times to do various things. The Christmasness in Barcelona is fabulous, just like any city in the UK, there are lights everywhere, an ice rink in the centre, and a gorgeous Christmas market complete with Christmas songs in English! It's safe to say that I really love the city as it's great to get lost in tourism as opposed to being one of the few foreigners here in Vic and also the fact that the city is just immense. Recently, I went for the weekend to celebrate a friends birthday and to let our hair down which was a truly fabulous getaway. 

This is me, Maria and Josep enjoying our traditional roast dinner.

Having been invited to dinner a few times to my mentor's house to experience some traditional Catalan stuff, I decided that I would attempt to cook a roast dinner for Maria and her husband Josep with the help of my friend Jade. This masterpiece was complete with proper gravy, stuffing, roast potatoes and an apple pie for pudding (yum). It was, I am pleased to say, a great success and I think (and hope) it went down a treat, even though it did take us 4 hours to cook from start to finish!

I took this picture from my balcony, the clouds are pretty impressive

So Christmas has finally arrived in Vic. The lights have only just been turned even though they've been up for about a month, but they were well worth the wait. The main square has a great big tree and all the streets are lined with lights, one even has a very festive red carpet running down it. However, it's just not the same here and I'm super excited about coming back to the land of tacky Christmas decorations and songs, but more importantly, stuffing my face for 2 weeks with Britain's finest Christmas nosh.